Floor polishing attachment for vacuum cleaners



Feb. 17, 1959 G. J. MILLER 2,873,465

FLOOR POLISHING ATTACHMENT FOR VACUUM CLEANERS Filed March 25, 1955 /6 INVENTOR.

Unied Stews Pat h 2,873,465 V FLOOR POLISHING ATTACHMENT FOR VACUUM CLEANERS George J. Miller, Windsor, Conn. Application March 25, 1955, Serial No. 496,786

1 Claim. c1. 15-431) This invention relates to improvements in floor polishing attachments for vacuum cleaners.

Ordinarily, during the waxing and polishing of a floor, it is necessary, if the wax or other polishing agent is the type that requires pressure for elfecting a proper distribution thereof over the floor surface and producing a desired gloss upon the surface, to apply a considerable amount of downward pressure upon the polishing device. For this purpose, some floor waxers are weighted, and when not weighted the'user must exert a substantial downward pressure upon the handle of the waxer.

The main object of the present invention is to provide an attachment for a vacuum cleaner, which attachment is usable to advantage-in the polishing of floors with waxesthat require pressure against the floor surface, which reduces or eliminates the necessity of the user exerting a downward pressure upon the attachment, thus making use of the attachment considerably easier than the use of waxing attachments in which pressure must be exerted downwardly by the user. t

Another important object is to provide an attachment as stated which has a polishing bonnet which is arranged tdbedrawn downwardly against the floor surface, to provide 5 the desired pressure upon the surface.

Another object is to provide a floor polishing attachment for vacuum cleaners that will be capable of manufacture at very low cost, thus to enhance measurably its commercial feasibility.

Still another object is toprovide, a floor polishing attachment that can, be attached to or disconnected from an associated :Vacuumcleaner withmaximum ease and speed.

A further object of importance is to provide a polishing attachment which is characterized by a high degree of etficiency as regards the distribution and polishing of the wax, and which is characterized, despite its low cost and simplicity, by ruggedness and substantially troublefree operation.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description, the claim appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views and wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a vacuum cleaner attachment according to the present invention, the handle of a vacuum cleaner being shown only fragmentarily;'

and

Figure 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional view taken on line 2-2 of Figure 1.

The illustrated attachment comprises a flat rectangular base or pressure plate The flat base plate 10, at its leading and trailing edges, has upwardly and inwardly turned flanges 12 and 13, respectively, extending from side to side of the base plate and in planes at acute angles to the plane of the base plate.

Formed centrally in the base plate 10 is an elliptical opening 11, and communicating at its lower end with inflexible construction 2,873,465 Patented Feb. 17 1959 said opening is the lower end of a suction. tube 14 formed of a relatively thin metal, inflexible plastic, or the like. The lower end of the tube 14 is cut ofl. in a plane oblique to the length of the tube, so that the axis of the conduit is disposed obliquely to the plane of the base plate, and the lower end of the suction tube is welded or otherwise fixedly secured as at 16 to the base plate 10, around the elliptical opening 11. u

Intermediate its ends, the side wall of the suction tube 14 has in its upper side a circular opening 18, and slid,- ably circumposed on the suction conduit, for movement in opposite directions as shown by the arrow in Figure 2, is a pressure-adjusting sleeve 20. Sleeve 20, when in the position thereof shown in Figures 1 and 2, completely uncovers the opening 18, so that when a suction is set up by reason of operation of a vacuum cleaner to which the tube 14 is attached, the suction induced in the suction tube 14 will be reduced due to the fact that outside air enters the suction tube through the opening 18, thus reducing the suction exerted through the opening 11 of the base plate 10.

By downward adjustment of the sleeve 20, the opening 18 can becompletely covered, to produce maximum suction within the tube 14. Similarly, the sleeve 20 can be adjusted to other positions in which it uncovers opening 18 to a selected, partial extent, thus to provide adjustment of the suction exerted through the lower end of the tube 14 within a wide range.

An elongated, tubular, plastic or metal handle 22 of is detachably .connected to the upper end of the tube 14, in coaxial alignment therewith, through the medium of a flexible, air-impervious, relatively short, tubular connecting sleeve 24. -The sleeve 24, at its opposite ends, receives the related ends ofthe handle 22 and tube 14, said ends of the, handle and tube being spaced apart to permit flexing of the coupling sleeve 24, duringuse of the device;

Overlying the lower end of the coupling sleeve '24 is a relatively short guide strip .26 formed of comparatively rigid sheet metal material or the like, said strip being integrally provided along opposite sides thereof within wardly turned guide flanges 28. The strip 26 is .fixedly secured to the. coupling sleeve 24 by means of rivets. 30 or the like, and extends longitudinally of the sleeve 24 in parallel relationto the axis'of, said sleeve 24. l

Slidably engaged in theguide 26, between the guide flanges 28, is the free, lower end portion of an elongated strip of spring steel designated at 32, said strip being normallystraight, but being resiliently flexible toward and away from the upper side of the sleeve 24, but not in other directions. The strip32 tends to maintain the coupling sleeve 24 in a straight, unflexed condition, but positively resists fiexion of the sleeve 24.

At its upper end, the strip 32 is riveted or otherwise fixedly secured to a clamping ring 34 extending about the upper end of the coupling sleeve 24. Ring 34, at a location diametrically opposite its fixed connection to strip 32, is split, and is formed with outwardly directed ears 36 through which extends a clamping screw 38. The screw 38, when tightened, tightens the ring'34 about the upper end portion of the sleeve 24, thus securely engaging the sleeve 24 about the lower end of the handle 22. At its lower end, the sleeve 24 is secured to the upper end of the suction tube 14.

By reason of the particular construction of coupling sleeve 24 and its associated spring strip 32-, the handle 22 can be swung upwardly to a selected inclination, found most suitable for the particular user, and the upward swinging of the handle tends to exert a certain amount of downward pressure upon the base plate 10, suppler'nenting the vacuum-induced pressure caused by operation of the vacuum cleaner.

The attachment further comprises an air-pervious polishing bonn'et 40 formed of lambs wool or similar material, and the leading and trailing edges of said polishing bonriet are reversely'foldedover the flanges 12 and 13', and are clamped under the flanges by the forward and back edges of a resilient bonnet retaining plate 42. Plate 42 can be. formed from thin spring steel or the like, and tends to' normally hold a planiforrn shape. However, the front to rear dimension of the plate 42 is greater than the distance between the flanges 12" and 13, so that the plate 42 must be bowed upwardly to permit its front and rear edges to engage under the flanges 12 and 13 to hold the folded front andrear portions of the bonnet tightly clamped in'engagement with the flanges, with the material of thebonnet between, the flanges engaged with the'unde'rside of the baseplate 10. The plate 42, to facilitate its 'fiexing and its removal, has a large, oval opening 44* formed centrally therein, the tube 14 extending through said opening.

In uscjthe handle 22 would be connected at its other end, by a conventional means (not shown), to a vacuum cleaner, not shown, and when the vacuum cleaner is operated, suction would be set up in said handle. This suction is transmitted through the lower end of the tube 14, and accordingly, tends to force the polishing bonnet tightly against the floor surface, thereby to provide the desired pressure forimparting a high gloss or a semigloss to said surface responsive to reciprocation of the attachment across the same. The suction can be adjusted in the manner previously described herein, by adjustment of the sleeve 20 longitudinally of the tube 14.

At the same time, the handle 22 can be, flexed upwardly ordownwardly, that is, within a vertical plane,relative to the suetiori tube 14, but cannot be flexed relative to the tube 14 in a lateral, side-to-side direction, due to the inability of the spring 32 to flex laterally. When the handle 22 is swung upwardly or downwardly, of course, the free end of the strip. 32 will shift longitudinally within its associated guide 26' to permit the flexure of the coupling sleeve. 24. l It'is believed apparent that the invention is not neces sarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described abovev since, it may be utilized for any purpose to which it may be suited. Nor is the, invention to benecessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and described, since such construction is only intended to be illustrative of theyprinciples it being considered that the garages invention comprehends any minor change in construction that may be permitted within the scope ofthe appended claim.

What is claimed is:

In a floor waxing attachment for a vacuum cleaner, a rectangular flat plate having forward and rear edges, inturned forward and rearflanges on said edges and pro jecting above said plate, a flexible air pervious bonnet extending along the underside of said plate and having edge portions trained around said flanges and having portions positioned between the flanges andthe plate, a relatively short rearwardly inclined suction tube having lower andupper ,ends, said, plate, having a central suction hole therethrough and the lower end of the tube being directly secured to the upper side of the plate around said suction hole, a rectangular resilient plate overlying said fiat plate, said resilient plate having forward and rear edges engaging said portions of said bonnet edge portions and holding the same engaged between the inturned flanges and the flat plate, said resilient plate being wider than th'e'distance between said flanges and being upwardly bowed relative to said fiat plate, said resilient plate, having an opening therein through which said tube extends.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,014,776 Rubel Jan. 16,

1,038,517 Ball Sept. 17, 1912 1,809,302 Lawrence June 9, 193:1 1,970,191 Riehel, Aug. 14, 193.4 2,066,829 Erickson Jan. 5, 1937 2,074,042 Bank, Mar. 16,. 1937' 2,167,865 Beecher Aug. 1, 1939 2,243,935 Williamson, June 3,, 1941 2,561,964 Anderson July 24, 19.511 2,574,643 Kersh Y Nov. 13. 1951 2,584,515 Udell I: Feb. 5, 19.52 2,668,312v Solomon Feb. 9, 195.4 2,688,763 P-faflle Sept. 14, .1954. 2,738,993 Wilson Mar. 20,v .1956

FOREIGN PATENTS 43,434 Denmark Dec. 1, 1930 137,078 Australia June 17, 1948- 215,662 Germany Oct. 29, 1909 613,995 Great Britain Dec.8, 1948 850,321 France ..a.. Sept. 11, 1939' 

